Starlight, Star Bright
by Lolly Cheesecake Factory
Summary: WAFF. Miranda has a cold. Dart should be catching one shortly after this. Really, it's not my fault.


Starlight, Star Bright

OMG! Could it be? I don't own LoD!

Substandard Author's Notation Wow, the influx of Valentines fics has BEGUN! Right. rolls eyes I might have gotten that one sacred sisters name wrong. shrugs Bah, she's mentioned once. Another BAH to add, I REFUSE to believe that after, what? 17 or so years of thinking of Shana as his 'little sister' that one disk passes and suddenly Dart-Boy decides that "OMG! Shana's HOT and completely un-sisterly in her thoughts towards me. So therefore I must return these advances to develop some sort of 'love story' at Sony's twisted whim like when they decided to OFF Lavitz (bastards) and pounce about the rest of the game in pursuit of this 'love interest'.

…..

Winter arrived in Mille Seseau with a gentle whisper of snow that turned into a full blanket before it was a week into the season. The Solstice festival was churning into full swing and Deningrad expected to celebrate both the reconstruction of the Crystal palace and the return of the dragoons. With expectations bright for a new year, spirits could not have higher-

"IB (high squeaking sneeze) BOT (high squeaking sneeze) ICK! (full blown sneeze)"

Wink did well to hid the amused smirk that lurked behind her sympathetic 'tsk.' Blond braid bedecked with a over festive red bow that actually hurt Miranda's eyes when she happened to glare in its direction, Wink was perhaps the only Sister willing to brave the ailing white-silver's wrath at this attempted coddling.

"Of course you're not sick. I forgot that you're above getting the flu." The third sister fluffed Miranda's pillows, that ridiculously bright bow hanging dangerously close and handed the scowling dragoon a tissue.

Grudgingly, Miranda snatched the proffered tissue and caught the next sneeze all the while cursing and working her state of discomfort into one of absolute misery. "Bot ick." she muttered around clogged sinuses. Shivered and yanked the heavy blanket (seemed ENTIRELY too thin to her) closer around her chilled form.

A silver thatch of hair popped around the doorframe, falling around Meru's cheerful features with that same glaring brightness of Wink's neon bow. Miranda squinted dubiously, wondering if perhaps Meru had always glowed like that or this was a side effect of the dozen potion concoctions that Luanna had been choking her with.

"Merry Solstice!" the Wingly greeted with a dazzling grin that made Miranda wince and deepen her squint.

"Habbee olstice." Came the congested correction. Meru's ungodly expression of cheer did not waver once. Tracking in wet footprints and dusted with the telltale splotches of snowball hits, the heavily bundled dragoon flopped down on the edge of the bed and put on a look of bemused pity.

"Got the flu, huh?"

"BOT (her face contorted to stifle a sneeze) ICK!"

Wink rolled her eyes. "Bellow if you need something, Miranda." She headed for the door (bow intact) to allow Meru to catch up with her friend.

"Okay, you're not sick, got it."

Miranda snuggled deeper into the blankets, shivering in misery and alternating between sneezing and gacking up a lung with a coughing fit. "'now'all bight?"

Meru nodded happily. "Yep! We were winning, least till Kongol got into it." The platinum haired girl made a face. "Never seen Dart heading the retreat before."

A particular tickling sensation in her nose allowed enough time to smack a tissue in place. Meru weathered this fit with a concerned half-frown. "You gonna be okay?"

"Ib ot ick!" She eyed the sopping tissue and tossed it to the waste bin beside the blanket-laden bed. The dragon spirit at her bedside stand glimmered gently, almost a reprimand. Determined to ride out this bout of ill health WITHOUT the aid of her mother-hen clucking sisters OR the white- silver stone, Miranda burrowed deeper, trying desperately to soak in the warmth that the bed offered.

"Right." Ruby eyes shifted to the spirit in questioning curiosity. "Too stubborn, I guess?"

"Ha. Ib ot ghonna oh eaching gor dhat rhock (another sneeze, another tissue discarded) ebby hime Ib ick." Blue eyes narrowed at the Wingly, as if in accusation for making her admit she MIGHT be sick. "Ib ot ick."

Meru held up her hands in ward off fault. "'kay. You're fit as a fiddle and healthy as a horse."

Miranda allowed for a happy smirk.

"A horse DYING of-" Lithely ducking under the half-hearted swing that the sacred sister gave her, Meru bounced back from the bed a few steps, her ponytail bobbing insanely as her grin. "Get some sleep, we'll be up to check on you not being sick in a bit."

Miranda sneezed at her and dove back under her covers into a ball of misery. The mattress seemed more incline to hold in the cold, chilling her to the bone despite the layers of blankets Setie had insisted upon. A snorting/sneezing fit prompted her to curl into a tighter ball and falter in that resolution not to use the white-silver spirit. No damned ROCK! She was not some silly weakling who'd never been in a Mille Seseau winter before! She could beat this!

"Achhhh---ahhhhh---ab----ACCHOOO!" She pulled a pillow closer over her head. Cold chills raged in all out war against the fever that flushed pale skin a burning red.

Through the barrier of blankets, a finger jabbed her hip, and the muffled exclamation of someone familiar's voice reached her through the wall of feather stuffed pillow. "Ut?" she ground out darkly.

"Are you still alive?"

Miranda peeked out of her feather fortress and glared at the speaker. "Ib ead. Oh ahay."

"Ah. Luanna sends soup."

She dared to test the air and caught a whiff of the recent concoction that her fellow sister sent her. Through the haze of watery eyes, she watched Dart sit gingerly on the edge of the bed and sit the offering on the bed stand.

"Ih hought hat Moo an yous (ducked back down to sneeze and curse) wer habben ah now'all ight?"

Dart laughed, shaking snow from his hair and rubbed his shoulder through the thick shirt he wore to ward off the chill. "Uhh, there's a difference between 'snowball' and 'snow boulder.'" Made a face. "We neglected to tell Kongol that."

"Hansy."

Dart hiked a defensive eyebrow. Apparently feeling charitable, he prodded her blanket-armored hip again and pointed at the steaming bowl and its contents. "Eat. It's Solstice Eve, nobody should be alone and sick tonight."

"Bah. Eb ahone on olstice eve fenty ob himes." She left the burrow of covers regardless of her words and gave the soup a bleary look. "Ut abbou 'hana?"

DAMN IT! What in Soa's blasted name made her ask THAT! The flush this time was not caused by the fever.

The Divine Dragoon shrugged evasively. "What about her?" Frowned slightly and brushed a sandy strand of hair from his eyes. "Sorry."

Miranda looked contrite as she hesitantly reached for the spoon and leaned over the void of space between the bed and the nightstand. Unused to that much motion, a dizzy wave smacked into her and sent her into a moaning dirge of misery. Dart's slight laugh prompted a retaliatory blue glare and a feeble kick.

"Ut oh bunne (sneeze) but beibn ick!" This brought on a sneezing fit that made her head positively ill. A tissue was held in front of her and was snatched away to mop up this latest attack. "Ih bate bein ick!"

"I thought you weren't?"

She squinted at him darkly. Decided to change the subject. "Ut abbou da otters?"

"Otters?"

"Ohtters!"

He waved her anger down at his teasing. "Just kidding. They're in the sitting room, with Theresa and the rest."

"ecorahting?" Miranda sighed. One of the few pleasures she had was the decorating of the tree on the eve of the solstice.

"Yep."

"ou bot tere?

The question surprised him visibly. Another shrug. "I had other things to do."

"Oh ie both ust ane-boicial?" She grinned for the first time, and managed to ignore the chills.

He matched her grin with a slow smile. "I guess." Offered another tissue in which Miranda took gratefully. "I never really had people to celebrate with."

"eles? Ut abbou hana?"

ARG! IDIOT! STOP ASKING QUESTIONS! She busied herself with another attempt to get at the soup.

Dart didn't seem to notice. A distant look of old memories surfacing. "They were there, true. But it just wasn't the same. Didn't feel right, you know?"

Miranda gave up on the quest for the soup and nodded. "Ah, Ih kgnow da felin."

Both sighed. Miranda pulled the blankets tighter around her shivering shoulders and grumbled darkly around her sinuses. Dart ran his hands through his hair and blinked. Both slid a blue look in one another's direction.

"So? We're both anti-social and never had a Solstice Eve with somebody that matters?"

Emphasis on 'matters.' Miranda breathed in deeply (through her mouth) and for once let that impenetrable façade slid from fever-flushed features. "Bah. Ebber pound umbody 'dat' pecial."

"Never?"

"Bope." Sniffed daintily and glared off in the general direction of the window. The drapes were shut, obstructing the view of the stars that had been her only companion on many a lonely night. "basted ickness."

Somewhere in the cheerful depths of the Crystal Palace, a clock chimed the happy signal for the beginning of the Solstice. Dart prodded her shoulder lightly. "Hey, it's the Solstice and we're not alone."

"Birst hime or ebbeting, he?" She looked down, at the door, everywhere but him. Nah, it wouldn't do to say anything. Never would have worked anyway. 'sides, after everything he'd done to get Shana back, would he really--?

STOP THINKING MIRANDA! JUST STOP THINKING!

Dart, without warning, rose and reached for her hand. "Come on."

"Ut?"

He made a face and scooped her out of the bed with stunning ease. Reflexes and mind muddled, he did not receive the punch that was usually the response to such actions. Trailing a hastily snatched up blanket, Dart tromped to the window and maneuvered it open with an awkward foot. Snow danced on the evening air, forcing the sacred sister to cling uncomfortably close to the Divine Dragoon and clutch at the blanket (pointless as it was, it was FREEZING out on the small balcony.)

"Ut da bhig ihea?"

"Look up." Came his response, maybe he was surprised at his own actions. Miranda glared, and then followed the directions of his own gaze.

A pale diamond against the darkening velvet sky was the first star of the winter solstice. Miranda's irritation evaporated, blinking away the quick sting of wetness in here eyes. That star-

"-has always been first to appear on the eve."

"Ih gnow." How many times had she watched its appearance on this very balcony?

"Make a wish." Dart's breath mingled with hers. There was a small smile on his wind burned face, maybe it matched hers. Hell.

Pansy. Make the stupid wish. Then get your sick-ass inside.

Leaning comfortably against the sandy blond dragoon, she flickered an azure gaze up at the single star and wished-

"That you'll never be alone."

A quick look at him, surprise tinting the flush (not caused by the fever) that reddened her face.

So close, his breath was warm. "Merry Solstice, Miranda."

This time, she was otherwise occupied to correct him, the star that watched the first kiss of the Solstice glimmered, winked, and continued to light the way for the rest of the wishers of the night.

…..

Shoot. Me. Now.


End file.
